Washington: The huge disparity in American aid given to India and Pakistan is due to the fact that India is a "growing world power" and aid-giver to countries like Iraq and Afghanistan, while Pakistan is a frontline country in the war against terror, Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Christina Rocca has said.

The US is also aiding Pakistan in the social sector and with education reform, said Rocca, explaining the enormous disparity of $ 700 million in aid for Pakistan and $85 million for India to a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday (Mar 2, 2004).

The disparity in aid was brought forth by acting chairman of the committee Senator Lincoln Chaffee.

Chaffee said that in examining the fiscal 2005 budget per country, certainly what jumps is Pakistan $700 million, Afghanistan $929 million, out of $1.9 billion total (for South Asia), leaving scarce funding for other members of the region.

"What jumps out of me in particular is India, if I have this right $85 million compared to $700 million for Pakistan. How, as we carry forth our diplomacy between these two neighbours, is the dynamics of confronting the disparity in foreign aid?" he asked.

Rocca responded, "Our relationship with India is different than that with Pakistan. Pakistan is one of the frontline countries in the war on terror and a lot of the assistance that we are talking about providing Pakistan is related directly to that issue."

"With India, we have a different relationship. It is one with a growing world power," she added.

"Our assistance (to India) is really focused on helping them deal with not only the remaining poverty, but also with some of the economic problems which are still holding them back, such as their deficits. So we are providing technical assistance. It is on a different level from that which we need in Pakistan."

Testifying before the same Committee, acting assistant USAID administrator Gordon West said, "Just to emphasise the level of sophistication, educational attainment in India really makes this a rather difficult comparison."

According to him, in India, "We actually see almost two countries, with the South being almost a developed country, and the capacity of the Government and the many States to manage its own affairs really puts it in a category where it increasingly is able to manage its own affairs."

"There are many policy decisions, strategic decisions that India must make. We are an active partner in many of those discussions. But increasingly India is seen as a country which is and should be expected to manage its own domestic affairs."

Rocca said India is also a provider of assistance to Afghanistan and in Iraq as well. "So it is also providing a large amount of money in its own right. It puts it in a different category." Asked by Chaffee if it was a good policy to direct much military aid to Pakistan as opposed to economic aid, Rocca said, "The military assistance US was providing is assistance that directly helps us fight the war on terrorism, which is why we have got half and half, because we also want to be able to get to the root causes of extremism that exists in that region."